Chapter 2. The Gift from the Sky.

On the borders of the kingdom of Valle Roble.

Leiza was a young woman of simple tastes and appreciation for life. She was not very tall, had tender brown eyes and a long curly dark hair that gave her a lot of pride. She had lived all her life with scarce resources, but that never bothered her, because she was an eternal believer that the future would always be brighter. That day she was cleaning the one and only versatile room in her tiny home (which served as living room, bedroom, bathroom and dining room; all merged into a space of less than six square meters). She was exhausted and wanted to rest, but her long-time companions, Luespo and Mity, were lying on top of the bed and would not let her use it. Luespo was a thin, young gray cat with bluish eyes; apathetic, lazy and with a volatile temperament. At moments he would approach Leiza in search of affection and at other times he would be the most sullen and hostile towards anyone who dared to invade his space. On the other hand, Mity was a small old dog with big dark eyes and shaggy white fur. His age was only noticeable in appearance, as his hyperactivity and exacerbated optimism never waned. Despite the age difference, the two had almost the same amount of time living with Leiza, since Luespo was adopted when he was a baby cat, months before Mity inadvertently appeared outside the house and never wanted to leave again. Although at first the cat did not tolerate the dog, the two eventually developed a good relationship and formed a peculiar duo with their mixed personalities.
Something they both always agreed on was that the only bed in the house belonged to whoever occupied it first. So if Leiza wanted to rest at that moment, she had to find a small gap between the two of them where she could accommodate her body. She was exhausted and even thought of lying down on the floor to rest a little, but the noise that resounded in the environment due to the King's celebrations made it difficult for her to conceive sleep. So she preferred to take advantage of her time and go ahead with cleaning the house. When at last it seemed that there was a certain calm after the festivities, Luespo and Mity got up from the mattress with an agile synchrony, finally giving their place to Leiza. Both were uneasy and ran around the room in search of something. The two animals were on alert and it was Mity the dog who began barking to announce his presence in the environment and try to scare away anyone who might pose a threat. Leiza did not understand what had upset her little companions, but she tried to calm them down. Soon she realized the source of their agitation, as she began to notice noises generated by someone banging on the roofs of the houses. The rhythm of the pounding continued increasing in speed and intensity, until suddenly a resounding impact sounded above the house and the noise stopped. Through a hole in the porous and deficient roof, a glass container entered and exploded against the floor, spilling a reddish liquid all over the room. Leiza became alarmed and ran for her broom to lift the glass off the floor before it could hurt her dog and cat, but they didn't seem as concerned about it. As Leiza removed the sharp shards from part of the floor, the animals obeyed another of their rigorous life maxims: anything that touched the floor belonged to them. So they ran to sniff curiously at the liquid that fell into the room.
Behind Leiza's back, they both began to consistently lick a substance that, judging by the tireless tonguing of the two, must have tasted exquisite. It was only until Leiza turned around that she could realize it and tried to stop them. But moments before she could get their attention, the door of her home was brought down with a violent kick that shook both Leiza and the animals. Several royal guards were outside and some of them rushed into the house while others remained in the exterior guarding a handcuffed man they were carrying with them. Looking down at the floor, they were stunned to see both animals consuming such an important treasure. General Haggif worried about what had happened and instructed his guards to immediately catch the dog and the cat:
-... You will have to kill them. I want you to squeeze every drop of that substance from inside their bodies before it's too late.
Leiza heard with terror the verdict that the King's General had just issued to his beloved friends. One guard obeyed him and reached over to grab the animals, squatted down to touch the gray cat's fur... and surprisingly the man got violently thrown outside at the same time the house exploded. Pieces of wood rained down in all directions as General Haggif shielded with his body a couple of distracted guards who were about to be stabbed in the skull. The other soldiers, shaken by the sudden explosion, looked towards what was once Leiza's home, shocked to see a gigantic white dog and a gray cat lying in front of them.
Leiza recovered after a hard fall and witnessed in awe how Mity and Luespo, her pets, were now four meters long. She then noticed that from the right side some guards emerged with swords drawn against them and she screamed in terror seeking to protect her pets. Mity recognized her voice and ran cheerfully towards her, as if he had not yet realized his increased dimensions. He paid little attention to his attackers and only pushed the nearest guard with a quick movement of his right paw to continue on his way towards Leiza. That swift swipe expelled the man who led the charge, leaving the breastplate of his armor completely pierced by the claws of the giant dog. A similar fate befell another group of guards at the other end, as Luespo felt his personal space was being invaded and became violent. He leapt into the air to deal out scratches that turned into white guillotines that shredded the steel as if it was cardboard. General Haggif threw his body against the angry cat to absorb the damage and save his men. His armor ended up dismembered and his muscular body was exposed, showing faint clean cuts all over. The claws of the animal would have mutilated anyone else incapable of coating his body with Goan.
The whole place turned into chaos, a perfect moment for the handcuffed thief to attempt to escape, thanks to the fact that his custodians were more focused on confronting the giant animals rather than watching him. He rushed urgently into the ruins of the small house, digging through the rubble with his feet in search of some trace of the stolen potion. He found a trickle of the spilled liquid and threw himself on the floor to lick it urgently, as if his life depended on it.
Meanwhile, General Haggif was determined to take the offense against the two giant animals. He leaped to grab Luespo by the neck and pin him to the ground, but it didn't last long because Mity came to the aid of his feline friend and knocked the General down with his head. The decorated soldier realized that he would have to take seriously his unexpected animal adversaries, so he prepared an accurate blow that could end the cat's life. He flexed his arm and clenched his fist, concentrating the reddish Goan in his left hand, he got ready to leap and target his adversary with this attack, but he staggered and fell to the ground after the earth shook with magnanimous intensity. In front of all of them, a fifty-foot tall giant man appeared. It was the thief of the potion that General Haggif had caught moments before.
This newly created colossus was feeling powerful and invincible, and now he wanted to repeat the duel against the famous imperial soldier under very different conditions. Impressed by the appearance of the huge man, Luespo and Mity returned to their usual fearful selves. They ran off into the forest, carrying Leiza by the dog's curly fur. General Haggif could do nothing to stop them, for now he had to face a new and monumental opponent.